Saudi princes in a letter to King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud protested at the country's Saudi Intelligence Chief Prince Bandar Bin Sultan's failure in coaxing the US into a war on Syria to topple President Bashar al-Assad's government. "The letter was signed by 17 influential Saudi princes and was submitted to King Abdullah's Chief of Staff," a Saudi source close to King Abdullah's monarchy, who asked to remain unnamed due to the sensitivity of his information, told FNA on Wednesday. The source also revealed that since the Saudi King and his Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz are not in good health conditions, the King's Chief of Staff controls the country's affairs and the Saudi princes presented
the letter to him to protest at Prince Bandar's weak performance on Syria. The source said that Bandar's failure in persuading the US and its allies to wage war on Syria has created deep differences among the Saudi princes. Earlier reports said that Prince Bandar Bin Sultan has spent tens of millions of dollars to persuade the US political and security officials to launch a military strike on Syria. Prince Bandar has spent a sum of $70 million to encourage the American officials to attack Syria, a Saudi security source told FNA in Riyadh late August. The US and Saudi Arabia are considered as among the main actors in the Middle East and many strategic regional parameters are formed by them and their interactions in the region. Prince Bandar has recently played an increasing role in the security developments in the region. Prince Bandar who was appointed by King Abdullah as the National Security Council and intelligence chief after 8 years of ambassadorial job in Washington has played a key role in
Washington-Riyadh relations over the past decades. Prince Bandar’s unique coordination with the US intelligence bodies has actually turned him into a major US field commander in the region to relentlessly direct the developments of the Middle East and the Muslim World in the US interest. American author Bob Woodward’s book titled Plan of Attack, published in 2004, said Prince Bandar has played an important role in former US President George W. Bush’s decision to attack Iraq in 2003. Prince Bandar is a member of the Saudi Royal family who was Saudi Ambassador to Washington from 1983 to 2005 before being appointed as the Arab country’s intelligence chief. Prince Bandar has closely contacted five US presidents, 10 foreign ministers, 11 national security advisors and hundreds of other American statesmen during his tenure as Saudi envoy to the US. Prince Bandar is said to be the first Saudi ambassador to have information about US State Department’s security details.